Syndicate

Migrant Mother

For those of you who don't, the picture is of Florence Owens Thompson, a migrant pea picker who was living in a roadside camp in California during the Great Depression. The day after that picture was taken, it appeared on the front page of many newspapers, as a symbol of the poverty that migrant workers were living in. Within a few more days, local citizens arrived at the camp with food and clothing for the migrants. Doctors provided medical care and others helped the migrants with car repairs.

Ironically, Florence didn't see any of this. The day her picture appeared on the newspaper, it was spotted by her oldest son, Bill, who was living with his Uncle. His Uncle got in his car and picked up Florence and her children that same day. What a guy.